Like Marco Polo or Clare Francis, Ted Simon made a journey that millions dream of. He rode 63,000 miles, four years and fifty-four countries round the world. Spinning through the Sudanese desert, into prison in Brazil, into a Californian commune; through war, revolutions, disasters; into depths of fear, heights of euphoria and a fleeting love affair ... Riding the tightrope across vast continents, meeting their peoples, he is seen as a spy, as a glamorous, astonishing stranger and as a deity. And for Ted Simon, Magellan on a motorbike, it became a journey to the centre of his soul.

Philip Marsden returns to the remote, fiercely beautiful landscape that has exercised a powerful mythic appeal over him since his first encounter with it over twenty years ago. 'Ethiopia bred in me the conviction that if there is a wider purpose to our life, it is to understand the world, to seek out its diversity, to celebrate its heroes and its wonders - in short, to witness it.' When Philip Marsden first went to Ethiopia in 1982, it changed the direction of his life. What he saw of its stunning antiquity, its raw Christianity, its extremes of brutality and grace prompted his curiosity, and made him a writer. But Ethiopia at that time was torn apart by civil war. The north, the ancient heartland of the country, was closed off. Twenty years later, Marsden returned. The result is this book - the account of a journey deferred. Walking hundreds of miles through a landscape of cavernous gorges, tabletop mountains and semi-desert, Marsden encounters monks and hermits, rebels and farmers. And he creates an unforgettable picture of one of the most remote regions left on earth. As in his award-winning book 'The Spirit-Wrestlers', Marsden reminds us of the brilliant heights that travel writing can attain, whilst celebrating the ageless rewards of the open road and the people for whom the mythic and the everyday are inextricably joined.

The Englishwoman Gertrude Bell lived an extraordinary life. Her adventures are the stuff of novels: she rode with bandits; braved desert shamals; was captured by Bedouins; and sojourned in a harem. Called the most powerful woman in the British Empire, she counseled kings and prime ministers. Bell's colleagues included Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, who in 1921 invited Bell - the only woman whose advice was sought - to the Cairo Conference to "determine the future of Mesopotamia." Bell numbered among her closest friends T.E. Lawrence, St. John Philby, and Arabian sheiks. In this volume of three of her notebooks, Rosemary O'Brien preserves Bell's elegant, vibrant prose, and presents Bell as a brilliant tactician fearlessly confronting her own vulnerability. The fundamental themes of her life - reckless behavior; a divided self which combined brilliance of intellect with a passionate nature; a sense of history; and the fatal gift of falling in love with a married man - are all here in remarkable detail. Her journey to northern Arabia in 1914 earned Bell professional recognition from the Royal Geographical Society, and solidified her reputation as a canny political analyst of Middle Eastern affairs. In addition to Bell's own photographs, O'Brien has provided us an unprecedented first access to excerpts of the Bell/Richard Doughty-Wyllie love letters, the married British army officer with whom she was in love and for whom her diaries were written.

In the early 1970s, the writer Ian Frazier left a small town in Ohio to move to a loft in lower Manhattan. Gone to New York is Frazier's account of the city over the thirty years, a book as full of vitality and charm as the city it describes. It features street scenes from every corner of the metropolis, where every block is an event and where the denizens are larger than life. Meet the man who climbed the World Trade Center, learn the location of Manhattan's antipodes, and follow Frazier down Canal Street in the mid-1970s, to Brooklyn in the 1980s and aboard the F Train in the twenty-first century. Like his literary forebears Joseph Mitchell and A. J. Liebling, Frazier makes us fall in love with America's greatest city all over again - just the way he did.

In this inspiring travelogue, celebrated traveler and photographer Jessica Nabongo—the first documented Black woman to visit all 195 countries in the world— shares her journey around the globe with fascinating stories of adventure, culture, travel musts, and human connections.

This isn't your standard travel book. In her top 100 countries, Nabongo includes seldom-visited and rarely celebrated destinations including North Korea, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and South Sudan. Her personal stories of the people she meets and the cultures she encounters break the stigmas of these unlikely travel spots and provides a new outlook to the world.

Nabongo completed her journey just months before the pandemic brought travel to a standstill. This book will be released at a time when travel is resuming, inspiring people to pack their bags once again.

While most travelers will never get to many of the destinations in this book, Nabongo's stories will allow them to go abroad from their armchairs. Where travel is more feasible, she provides her recommendations for the must-try adventures, sights, bites, and places to stay. And her personal story will inspire legions to explore the world in her footsteps.

The West Highland Way is Scotland's first official Long Distance Route and runs near 100 miles from Milngavie to Fort William. It was nicknamed the 'Way Way' by a trio from Fife who set off to walk it in the year of the Millennium. This is not a guidebook but an account of their experiences, the highs and lows which any challenge presents of their marvellous, surprising, amusing and weird memories. They met many hundreds of people along the way but, naturally, those they recall were the more eccentric. Although the trio never managed another bigger trip together they realize how lucky, and wise, they had been to grab the chance when it came. There is remarkably pleasant rural walking at the start to reach the Highlands at Loch Lomond, fine woodland on its banks and later, the contrast of lonely, empty miles across Rannoch Moor, the Devil's Staircase and the great pass of the Lairig Mor to finish. Encounters with other people are an important part of Long Distance Routes. Anyone who has walked the Way Way (or is planning to do so) will enjoy this story, bringing back plenty of similar memories of people and places, adventures and misadventures. The illustrations too give a wonderful idea of the rich variety of country traversed and well capture the atmosphere of this walk through Scotland's fine landscapes.

Greenlanders gained reliable social entertainment from the oral retelling of their legends. With the only printed material available at the time being of Christian origin, interest grew for Greenlandic stories, leading to the formation of Atuagagdliutit-the first, and still published, periodical in the country. The stories collected in Kayakmen originally appeared there. This text represents a firsthand account of the civilization of Greenlanders depicting a true picture of their age.

In 1972, Gilles Mora and his wife Francoise left France to teach the French language in public schools in Louisiana. At the time, he knew nothing about photography. Fascinated by the Deep South, however, Mora soon started a photographic project on its culture. Greatly influenced by artists such as Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, Eudora Welty, and Clarence John Laughlin; playing music with some of the major figures of the rockabilly scene, including Carl Perkins; and infused with the sensuality of the South, Mora produced a unique body of pictures over more than twenty years. Rarely exhibited or published, the images in Antebellum present a kind of travelogue, a photographic recording of Mora's personal mythologies, which evoke the disappearing world of the Deep South.

The incredible memoir by international bestselling author of Where The Crawdad's Sing, Delia Owens and her partner Mark Owens', charting their time researching wildlife in the Kalahari Desert. Reissued and in full colour, for the first time since its original publication in 1984.

Carrying little more than a change of clothes and a pair of binoculars, two young Americans, Mark and Delia Owens, caught a plane to Africa, bought a third-hand Land Rover, and drove deep into the Kalahari Desert. There they lived for seven years, in an unexplored area with no roads, no people, and no source of water for thousands of square miles. In this vast wilderness the Owenses began their zoology research, working along animals that had never before been exposed to humans.

An international bestseller on original release, Cry of the Kalahari is the story of the Owenses's life with lions, brown hyenas, jackals, giraffes, and the many other creatures they came to know. It is also a gripping account of how they survived the dangers of living in one of the last and largest pristine areas on Earth.

"When one is tired of London, one is tired of life." - Samuel Johnson London has long been a centre of the literary world. From Shakespeare to Amis, Byron to Blake, Plath, Thomas, Christie and Rowling; many of the greatest names in literature have made this metropolis their home. Writers' London guides the reader through homes, bookshops, pubs and cemeteries, in search of where literary greats loved and lost, drank and died. Discover the Islington building where Joe Orton was murdered by his lover, the Soho pub where Dylan Thomas left his manuscript, the Chelsea hotel where Oscar Wilde was arrested, and the Bank of England where Kenneth Graham was shot at (and missed) three times. Gathering hundreds of famous and less-well-known anecdotes, this meticulously researched volume will entertain any lover of literature. Also in the series: Vinyl London ISBN 9781788840156 Rock 'n' Roll London ISBN 9781788840163 Art London ISBN 9781788840385 London Peculiars ISBN 9781851499182

Based on the Nas Daily video series with over 13 million dedicated followers comes the surprising, moving 1,000-day journey of a lifetime in book form In 2016, Nuseir Yassin quit his job to travel for 1,000 consecutive days. But instead of the usual tourist traps, Nas set out to meet real people, see the places they call home, and discover what unites all of us living on this beautiful planet-from villages in Africa and slums in India, to the high-rises of Singapore and the deserts of Australia. While he journeyed from country to country, Nas uploaded a single 60-second video per day for his Nas Daily Facebook following to highlight the amazing, terrifying, inspiring and downright surprising sh*t happening all over the world. Thirteen million followers later, Nas Daily has become the most immersive travel experience ever captured, and finally shows us what we've all been looking for: each other. AROUND THE WORLD IN 60 SECONDS is Nas' unpredictable 1,000-day world tour in book form. At times a striking portrait of the most uncharted places in the world, at others a touching exploration of the human heart, this collection of life-affirming stories and breathtaking photographs changes how we think about humanity and community and invites us all on a journey to see the world, and each other, anew.

Geoffrey Chaucer might be considered the quintessential English writer, but he drew much of his inspiration and material from Italy. Without the tremendous influences of Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio, the author of The Canterbury Tales might never have assumed his place as the 'father' of English literature. Nevertheless, Richard Owen's Chaucer's Italy begins in London, where the poet dealt with Italian merchants in his roles as court diplomat and customs official, before his involvement in arranging the marriage of King Edward III's son Lionel in Milan and diplomatic missions to Genoa and Florence. Scrutinising his encounters with Petrarch, Boccaccio, and the mercenary knight John Hawkwood, Owen reveals the deep influence of Italy's people and towns on Chaucer's poems and stories. Much writing on Chaucer depicts a misleadingly parochial figure, but, as Owen's enlightening short study of Chaucer's Italian years makes clear, the poet's life was internationally eventful. The consequences have made the English canon what it is today.

Have you ever: hitch-hiked? been ski-ing? been camping? travelled by train? been on a Weekend Break? been on a package holiday? been on a school exchange? been on a boating holiday? had a disastrous holiday? Then you should enjoy V.A.C.A.T.I.O.N, Oliver Gray's memoir of a lifetime spent travelling without style.

This is nature's brochure, an inspirational travel essay woven through a landscape photography collection. Readers will discover nature's power to teach, inspire, and improve lives. With 160 colour photographs from parks in all 50 U.S. states, the book combines America's beautiful scenery with down-to-earth insight into how everyone's not just adventurers' can benefit from spending time in nature. Sprinkled with wisdom from naturalist John Muir, the book provides an uplifting look at life and the outdoors.

The beloved Sunday Times bestseller - a touching, hilarious, often outrageous memoir of home-making and family adventures in the world's furthest outposts 'Hilarious, and utterly beguiling - it's a complete treat to be in Keenan's witty and open-hearted company' Esther Freud 'Deliciously effervescent' Sunday Times 'Brigid writes like a dream ... fabulous' Joanna Lumley 'Irresistible' Mail on Sunday When Sunday Times fashion journalist Brigid Keenan married the love of her life in the late Sixties, she had little idea of the rollercoaster journey they would make around the world together. For he was a diplomat - and Brigid found herself the smiling face of the European Union in locales ranging from Kazakhstan to Trinidad, and asking herself questions she never thought she'd have to ask. How do you throw a buffet dinner during a public mourning period in Syria? Where do you track down dog fat in Almaty? And how do you entertain guests in a Nepalese chicken shed? Negotiating diplomatic protocol, difficult teenagers, homesickness, frustrated career aspirations, witch doctors, and giant jumping spiders, Brigid muddles determinedly through - with no shortage of mishaps on the way. 'There are not many books that have actually made me cry from laughing, but this is one of them' Sunday Times

In Journeys to Impossible Places, best-selling author and presenter Simon Reeve reveals the inside story of his most astonishing adventures and experiences, around the planet and close to home. Journeys to Impossible Places continues the story Simon started in his phenomenal Sunday Times bestseller Step by Step, which traced the first decades of his life from depressed and unemployed teenager through to his early TV programmes. Now Simon takes us on the epic and thrilling adventures that followed, in beautiful, tricky and downright dangerous corners of the world, as he travelled through the Tropics, to remote paradise islands, jungles dripping with heat and life, and on nerve-wracking secret missions. Simon shares what his unique experiences and encounters have taught him, and the deeper lessons he draws from joy and raw grief in his personal life, from desperate struggles with his own fertility and head health, from wise friends, fatherhood, inspiring villagers, brave fighters, his beloved dogs, and a thoughtful Indian sadhu. Journeys to Impossible Places inspires and encourages all of us to battle fear and negativity, and embrace life, risk, opportunities and the glory of our world.

A region steeped in fable and myth, Provence is a cultural crossroads of European history. A source of inspiration to artists, poets, and troubadours, it is now an enviable refuge for the wealthy and fashionable. Nicholas Woodsworth, who was born in Ottawa, Canada, married into a Provencal family and has lived in the region for decades. Lovingly recounting vivid details of life in Provence, he provides here a welcome antidote to the typical rose-tinted, romantic view of it being a perennially sunny destination for tourists. The true Provencaux have always lived a hard life close to the land and the rhythms of the seasons. And it is in the revelation and understanding of these lives, of the Provencal people, that the truths of the region are to be found. As much a study of Provencal culture and history as a memoir and travel book, this is a deep and soulful investigation into a way of life that remains very distinct from that of the rest of France."

In 1960, when he was almost sixty years old, John Steinbeck set out to rediscover his native land. He felt that he might have lost touch with its sights, sounds and the essence of its people.

Accompanied only by his dog, Charley, he travelled all across the United States in a pick-up truck. His journey took him through almost forty states, and he saw things that made him proud, angry, sympathetic and elated.

All that he saw and experienced is described with remarkable honesty and insight.

In 2016, desperate for a drastic change, Bex Band decided to walk the length of Israel with her husband: a 1000km trek including a dangerous crossing through the vast Negev desert. She'd never done anything like it before and the experience changed her life, building back her confidence and self-esteem. Three Stripes South tells the story of this transformative adventure - battling heat, exhaustion, self-doubt and prejudice - and the new life Bex built for herself when she got home, founding the Love Her Wild women's adventure community. 'Lacking confidence is something that a lot of women can relate to' says Bex. 'For me personally, it began at school with undiagnosed dyslexia and bullying. This fed into my adult years where I found myself in a vicious cycle of unhappy jobs and bouts of depression. I had low self-esteem and a belief that I really wasn't capable of achieving much in life.' Fast forward to today and Bex has transformed her life, tackling gender inequality in adventure travel, and championing women in the outdoors through regular talks, blogging and leading women on adventures all over the world. Nominated for multiple awards for her work advocating women in adventure, her story is an inspiration.

'Don't send him to Torremolinos; it's not his kind of tundra.' Such was the mantra of The Sunday Times when considering assignments for Brian Jackman, for whom deserts, rain forests and mountain ranges have always been more enticing habitats. After decades spent travelling and writing about the places and wildlife that have inspired him, one of the world's most experienced naturalists has turned his focus onto the story of his inspirational life. 'This is no ordinary autobiography', he says. West with the Light sweeps through Jackman's wartime evacuation, grammar school, Soho jazz clubs of the '50s and the navy to a career in travel journalism to which his first marriage gave way before he found a new, true and more lasting love that abides to this day in his beloved rural Dorset. Beginning with memories of Edwardian London and the growth of suburbia, it provides a vivid portrayal of post-war travel and the rise of a new sort of tourism - ecotourism - set against the background of the most turbulent decades the world has ever known. Through it all shines Jackman's lifelong love of nature, instilled by childhood holidays in the West country and the stories that led to his passion for Africa and the big cats that that still walk through his life and dreams. Rippling across continents with Jackman's natural charm and hallmark stylish prose, his recollections include lively first-hand encounters with pioneering wildlife conservationists like George and Joy Adamson, Iain and Saba Douglas-Hamilton, Richard Leakey, Gavin Maxwell and Jonathan Scott. Travellers, wildlife enthusiasts, writers and anyone with a love of adventure will adore this book.